After finishing my conversation with Abel, I stepped out of the tent. It was late, and it seed everyone had already returned to their own tents—the camp had grown quiet.
The cool night breeze brushing against my face made feel a little sentintal. For a change of pace, I began walking toward the hill just below the camp.
Just yesterday, the area had been dotted with curious onlookers, but tonight, not a single soul was in sight.
“Well, today’s subjugation battle was brutal.”
Everyone was probably too exhausted and had gone to sleep early.
With the soft rustle of grass beneath my feet, I slowly made my way forward, enjoying the gentle breeze that brushed past my entire body.
Normally, Sylphi would have been here to enjoy the wind with , but perhaps tired from the day, she had already returned to the spirit realm. She must’ve even cut the link—her voice wasn’t echoing in my mind at all.
As I walked, lost in those idle thoughts, I spotted soone sitting in the distance.
She had let her hair down, the long dark strands flowing over the grass. Her face, though still thin, had filled out a little compared to before.
“Yuruf?”
The girl with blue eyes, Yuruf, was crouched down, quietly staring up at the sky.
Her body was still frail, but she looked much better than she had the last ti I saw her. Thinking that, I quietly approached and sat beside her on the grass.
She flinched in surprise, her eyes widening, but then offered a soft greeting.
“…Hello.”
“Yeah. Hello.”
The scene felt no different from any other day. After exchanging greetings, silence fell between us again. It wasn’t unbearably awkward like before, but it still felt a bit stifling.
Yuruf didn’t seem to mind the atmosphere. She simply gazed up at the night sky in quiet contemplation.
“What are you doing?”
“Watching the stars.”
The stars, huh?
I followed her gaze upward. The sky was pitch black, speckled with countless glowing stars.
I couldn’t recognize any of the constellations from my previous life, but the sight was just as breathtaking as I rembered.
Back then, the city lights had drowned out the night sky so much that it was hard to see even a single star. But here, just turning your head slightly revealed an overwhelming number of stars.
“Yde, do you believe in star-related superstitions?”
“Huh? There’s sothing like that?”
When I asked, Yuruf looked at with confused eyes, as if surprised I didn’t know. Her gaze wasn’t judgntal—it was more… innocent, like she was genuinely curious why I didn’t know.
It stung a little.
She closed her eyes for a mont, then began explaining.
“According to the superstition, every constellation in the sky represents a person’s fate.”
“Those constellations?”
I asked skeptically, and she gave a small nod.
The idea that every person’s fate was written in the stars sounded far-fetched. There were hundreds of millions of people in the world—if the sky held all their destinies, wouldn’t it be dayti all the ti?
As I mulled that over, Yuruf continued in a quiet voice.
“It’s a well-known superstition. A lot of people believe in it.”
The most prominent example, she added, was the Holy Pop himself.
Hearing that made close my mouth. He was the leader of the Church of the Goddess—he probably knew far more about this world than I did.
“Do you see that one star shining especially brightly up there?”
“That one…”
I looked back up. Just as she said, amidst the sea of white lights, one star sparkled more intensely than the others.
But there was only one. It flickered as if it might go out at any mont—hardly sothing you could call a constellation.
I knew it was just superstition, but the sight still gave an uneasy feeling. Before I could shake the thought, Yuruf spoke again.
“You can’t see it.”
“Huh?”
I turned my head. She was smiling bitterly.
Yuruf stretched her bony hand toward the sky. It trembled slightly, as if trying desperately to reach those stars.
“There’s no constellation up there that belongs to .”
“You an…”
“I don’t belong in this world. I’m an outsider.”
Outsider.
The word struck a nerve. Her expression brimd with profound loneliness.
What kind of life had she lived, that soone her age could wear such a look?
Her withdrawn, timid face… it reminded of myself in my past life. And just like that, I couldn’t look away.
“Because, in the end, I’m fake.”
Fake. I didn’t fully understand what she ant, but I could sense the weight of her words.
After all, I had once wrestled with the sa kind of thoughts.
My twin sister had always been better than at everything. I was constantly compared to her, criticized, and overlooked by our parents.
Back in middle school, during the turbulent storm of adolescence, I started to believe I was nothing more than a replacent—a fake.
Thinking of myself as useless, as sothing disposable, left deep wounds on my heart.
And the people around did little to help. They were harsh, unforgiving. By the ti those wounds festered and burst, I ended up saying sothing to my sister—sothing I would regret for the rest of my life.
Just like I had once hurt Lily as Adele.
“God, I really am such an idiot.”
I swallowed a bitter laugh and asked her,
“Does it really matter if you’re real or fake?”
In the end, the point I wanted to make was simple.
Let’s say the world did divide people into “real” and “fake.” Even if she was fake… what difference did it make?
“That’s…”
Yuruf opened her eyes wide in surprise. She hesitated, lips parting and closing, like she had never thought about it that way.
Maybe she really did believe she was a false saintness.
Maybe that’s why she kept fasting—to get the pop to withdraw his recomndation for her to beco the next saintness.
But from everything I had seen of her so far, Yuruf was more than worthy of being called a saintness.
Even when she was irritable from fasting, she never withheld healing or blessings from others. And more than that—she’d risked her life to break through ntal manipulation and step forward in battle.
If soone like her couldn’t be called a saintness, then who could?
“But… no one likes a fake, right?”
“Do you really believe that?”
Yuruf hesitated, then slowly nodded. The resignation in her eyes was hard to look at—it reminded too much of myself in the past.
“You know, I had a twin sister.”
It was a piece of my past I’d never shared with anyone. A mory I couldn’t reveal as Adele von Este—because in this world, Adele had no siblings.
But borrowing the identity of Yde, the spirit knight, I could talk about it. Maybe soday I’d tell Abel, too… but not yet. Not unless I was ready to admit that I was a soul from another world, sothing absurd he’d probably never believe.
Just as I was about to get lost in those thoughts, Yuruf spoke again.
“Your sister…?”
“Yeah. She was amazing.”
She had talents that always outshined mine. Academics, sports—even the one thing I thought I was decent at, embroidery—she surpassed in everything.
I lived in her shadow, always. Friends, teachers, even our parents. Because we were twins and looked identical, people began to see as nothing more than her substitute.
That went for boys who showed interest in , too. And eventually, even our parents. Worst of all, I started to believe it myself—that I was just a stand-in.
“Being a fake… ans…”
“It ans I felt like I was just her imitation.”
Just when I was drowning in those thoughts, my sister got accepted into a prestigious university. Even with our family’s financial struggles, she made it happen.
In this world’s terms, it would’ve been like a commoner getting accepted into the Royal Academy. That’s how big a deal it was. And with that, I was shoved even further into the background.
“I truly thought I was a worthless knockoff.”
That’s why I climbed to the rooftop.
And when I stood before the railing, the first person to co running wasn’t a friend, or even my parents. It was my sister.
She was crying as she clung to , yelling at the top of her lungs.
That I wasn’t her substitute. That I was precious—just as I was.
Even then, I didn’t listen. I lashed out with words that cut deep.
I asked her since when she had ever cared about . Told her she’d always been just a thorn in my side.
And as we argued, when I started to fall over the edge, she threw herself forward to save .
The smile she gave in that mont… it’s sothing I can never forget.
“You know, whether you’re real or fake… it really doesn’t matter.”
“…”
“What matters is the kind of person you choose to be.”
If I’d realized that back then, maybe I wouldn’t have said such cruel things to her.
Maybe I would’ve known I wasn’t just her shadow—but a kind, warm-hearted younger sister in my own right.
“Can I ask you sothing?”
“…Yes.”
I turned my head to find Yuruf, her eyes shimring with tears.
I gave a soft smile, then pulled a small towel from my cloak and handed it to her.
“What kind of person are you?”
She lowered her head, hesitating for a long mont. Then in a tiny voice, she whispered,
“…I think… I need so ti to figure that out.”
“Yeah. That’s okay.”
I stood up from where I was sitting. As I glanced back, I saw Yuruf sitting there, her eyes closed in deep thought.
I didn’t know exactly what struggles she was facing.
But I hoped—more than anything—that she wouldn’t walk the sa painful path I once did.
That was all I could wish for.
– – The End of The Chapter––
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